On 14 Aug 2003 23:13:02 GMT, (Gould 0738) wrote:

Within the last couple of days they arrested two guys at the Seattle airport.
One was on the "do not fly" list.
Both had Pakistani passports, and had slipped illegally into the US across the
Candian border at Blaine.

Both guys paid cash for one-way tickets to NY.

Was it a coincidence that they wanted to be in NY this afternoon?
Probably.

At first, I wondered the same as you did. As this thing unfolds, it
seems that our local northern NY power company, Niagara Mohawk,
experienced a major failure, and knocked down the Northeast grid like
a box of Dominos. Coincidently, Niagara Mohawk was sold to a British
Corporation a few years ago, and service has suffered ever since.

In my opinion, we are vulnerable enough when our utilities are
controlled by corporate interests. We are even more vulnerable, as a
society, when our utilities are controlled by a foreign corporate
interest.

I am one of the lucky few with electricity tonight. My daughter is
still stuck on a Metro train in NY, trying to get home to Albany.

***News Flash*** NBC just announced a report that lightning struck a
Niagara Mohawk powerplant, causing the cascade. What?????

Regards from the Great, Dark, Northeast,
noah

On 14 Aug 2003 23:13:02 GMT, (Gould 0738) wrote:

Within the last couple of days they arrested two guys at the Seattle airport.
One was on the "do not fly" list.
Both had Pakistani passports, and had slipped illegally into the US across the
Candian border at Blaine.

Both guys paid cash for one-way tickets to NY.

Was it a coincidence that they wanted to be in NY this afternoon?
Probably.

....a whimsical update.

Our local newslady just related that NY hospital power supplies were
being kept on-line by "Emergency Janitors". Damn....those guys can
CRANK!!! I hope they've got a good union. )
noah

On 14 Aug 2003 23:13:02 GMT, (Gould 0738) wrote:

Within the last couple of days they arrested two guys at the Seattle airport.
One was on the "do not fly" list.
Both had Pakistani passports, and had slipped illegally into the US across the
Candian border at Blaine.

Both guys paid cash for one-way tickets to NY.

Was it a coincidence that they wanted to be in NY this afternoon?
Probably.

Why the hell would they want to be in NY today? It seems more coincidental that
hackers have screwed half the 'puters in the USA, and the 'puters in the
electrical network failed to work as planned today. 'Course, I'm no expert on
any of this. I'm just waiting now for Sen Kennedy to call for guards at every
computer, electrical tower, dam, and river that exists in the USA. Of course, he
will press hard for low ranking civilian government workers who are offered free
membership in the AFGE.


John
On the 'Poco Loco' out of Deale, MD

Noah,
This is a perfect example of the kind of info you can expect to read in any
NG, Gould, one of the more knowledgeable boaters in the NG, throws out a
theory that maybe the NE Blackout is the result of a terrorist attack. Is
this accurate, as of now it does not appear to be, but it is a great way to
start a bull**** discussion that will soon evolve into a political
discussion.

"noah" wrote in message
...
On 14 Aug 2003 23:13:02 GMT, (Gould 0738) wrote:

Within the last couple of days they arrested two guys at the Seattle
airport.
One was on the "do not fly" list.
Both had Pakistani passports, and had slipped illegally into the US
across the
Candian border at Blaine.

Both guys paid cash for one-way tickets to NY.

Was it a coincidence that they wanted to be in NY this afternoon?
Probably.

At first, I wondered the same as you did. As this thing unfolds, it
seems that our local northern NY power company, Niagara Mohawk,
experienced a major failure, and knocked down the Northeast grid like
a box of Dominos. Coincidently, Niagara Mohawk was sold to a British
Corporation a few years ago, and service has suffered ever since.

In my opinion, we are vulnerable enough when our utilities are
controlled by corporate interests. We are even more vulnerable, as a
society, when our utilities are controlled by a foreign corporate
interest.

I am one of the lucky few with electricity tonight. My daughter is
still stuck on a Metro train in NY, trying to get home to Albany.

***News Flash*** NBC just announced a report that lightning struck a
Niagara Mohawk powerplant, causing the cascade. What?????

Regards from the Great, Dark, Northeast,
noah

"Bill Cole" wrote in message .net...
Noah,
This is a perfect example of the kind of info you can expect to read in any
NG, Gould, one of the more knowledgeable boaters in the NG, throws out a
theory that maybe the NE Blackout is the result of a terrorist attack. Is
this accurate, as of now it does not appear to be, but it is a great way to
start a bull**** discussion that will soon evolve into a political
discussion.

It was just a THEORY that Gould threw out there, along with facts that
could possibly point in that direction. Do you have any information to
the contrary, to back up YOUR statement that it is "bull****"?

Bass,
I was not saying that Gould's theory was bull****, nor do I believe that
Gould necessarily supported the theory. I read Gould's post as a way to
promote an off the cuff discussion (which in my neighborhood was called a
shooting the bull, or bull****).

The only info I have is the same as most of the readers in the NG, the power
experts believe that the problem was not the result of terrorist, but was a
combination of natural factors that overwhelmed the system.

Now, if I said that the power failure was the result of Flying Saucers
stealing our power, do you have any proof that my statement is bull****?


"basskisser" wrote in message
om...
"Bill Cole" wrote in message
.net...
Noah,
This is a perfect example of the kind of info you can expect to read in
any
NG, Gould, one of the more knowledgeable boaters in the NG, throws out a
theory that maybe the NE Blackout is the result of a terrorist attack.
Is
this accurate, as of now it does not appear to be, but it is a great way
to
start a bull**** discussion that will soon evolve into a political
discussion.

It was just a THEORY that Gould threw out there, along with facts that
could possibly point in that direction. Do you have any information to
the contrary, to back up YOUR statement that it is "bull****"?

"Bill Cole" wrote in message .net...
Bass,
I was not saying that Gould's theory was bull****, nor do I believe that
Gould necessarily supported the theory. I read Gould's post as a way to
promote an off the cuff discussion (which in my neighborhood was called a
shooting the bull, or bull****).

The only info I have is the same as most of the readers in the NG, the power
experts believe that the problem was not the result of terrorist, but was a
combination of natural factors that overwhelmed the system.

Now, if I said that the power failure was the result of Flying Saucers
stealing our power, do you have any proof that my statement is bull****?

I wouldn't totally discount it, until all of the facts were in,
especially when there were some circumstances that did seem out of
place. As it were, they weren't connected, but at the time Gould put
that theory out, it wasn't out of the realm of possiblility.

OK,
so you do agree that Gould's theory was a way of promoting a discussion on
the power outage just to chat about it, not necessarily that there was any
facts for anyone to base any theory on. So he was just trying to shoot the
bull or have a bull**** discussion concerning the power outage.

I can go along with that.


"basskisser" wrote in message
om...
"Bill Cole" wrote in message
.net...
Bass,
I was not saying that Gould's theory was bull****, nor do I believe that
Gould necessarily supported the theory. I read Gould's post as a way to
promote an off the cuff discussion (which in my neighborhood was called
a
shooting the bull, or bull****).

The only info I have is the same as most of the readers in the NG, the
power
experts believe that the problem was not the result of terrorist, but
was a
combination of natural factors that overwhelmed the system.

Now, if I said that the power failure was the result of Flying Saucers
stealing our power, do you have any proof that my statement is bull****?

I wouldn't totally discount it, until all of the facts were in,
especially when there were some circumstances that did seem out of
place. As it were, they weren't connected, but at the time Gould put
that theory out, it wasn't out of the realm of possiblility.

"basskisser" wrote in message
om...
"Bill Cole" wrote in message
.net...
Bass,
I was not saying that Gould's theory was bull****, nor do I believe that
Gould necessarily supported the theory. I read Gould's post as a way to
promote an off the cuff discussion (which in my neighborhood was called a
shooting the bull, or bull****).

The only info I have is the same as most of the readers in the NG, the power
experts believe that the problem was not the result of terrorist, but was a
combination of natural factors that overwhelmed the system.

Now, if I said that the power failure was the result of Flying Saucers
stealing our power, do you have any proof that my statement is bull****?

I wouldn't totally discount it, until all of the facts were in,
especially when there were some circumstances that did seem out of
place. As it were, they weren't connected, but at the time Gould put
that theory out, it wasn't out of the realm of possiblility.

Agreed, and it was therefore ridiculous for Chuck to throw out a theory without knowing
the facts.

"Bill Cole" wrote in message
. net...
Noah,
This is a perfect example of the kind of info you can expect to read in
any
NG, Gould, one of the more knowledgeable boaters in the NG, throws out a
theory that maybe the NE Blackout is the result of a terrorist attack. Is
this accurate, as of now it does not appear to be, but it is a great way
to
start a bull**** discussion that will soon evolve into a political
discussion.


It's as valid as President Nookular repeating the yet unproven theory that
lightning around the Niagara River caused the blackout. I have friends who
were fishing the river yesterday. No clouds.

Meanwhile: Anyone who's awake has seen news stories about how vulnerable our
infrastructure is because of computer security problems. It is entirely
possible that this blackout WAS caused by terrorists, but not the kinds who
use explosives or airliners. If this is the case, it is also possible that
it is still undetected.